2K Collection

It takes plenty of patience to make it to the end of a multiplayer game of Civilization 5, patience often stretched to breaking point by de-syncing games and ponderous AI turns. A new patch has arrived for Civilization 5 brings "significant improvements to general multiplayer stability" and does something fancy to the AI move caching, "improving turn-times significantly."

Out-of-sync errors should be less frequent and the UI has been updated letting players see details of a game before jumping into lobbies. On the downside, Firaxis have plugged a few loopholes. In a move sure to be welcomed by the confused citizens, we'll no longer be able to trade cities back and forth to heal them and "generate endless City Strikes." Aw. Here are the full patch notes, from Steam.

Multiplayer

Significant improvements to general multiplayer stability.Significant improvements to Hot-Join stability.Multiplayer now using the same AI move caching as single player, improving turn-times significantly.Lobby improvements: We now display game details in the lobby list (players in each game, map size, map type, DLC required, etc.).Host can now kick players from the staging room when loading a save (if a player cannot return to a game, the game can now be continued by the rest of the players).Found and corrected additional causes of Out-of-Sync.Exploit: Corrected an exploit that allowed players on the same team to trade cities back and forth to auto-heal it.Exploit: Corrected an exploit that allowed players on the same team to trade cities back and forth to generate endless City Strikes.Exploit: Corrected an exploit that allowed a player to “lag” the UI to gain multiple free techs.

UI

Change “Load Game” save sorting to be “Last Modified” by default.

Bugs

When scrapping a unit, make sure any “cargo” units are scrapped as well.When a unit is destroyed that is carrying another unit, make sure to kill both (missiles sometimes lingered).Corrected a bug that was causing eliminated Civ’s to not generate notifications correctly.Changed notification language for when a Research or Trade deal is cancelled due to the AI running out of funds to pay for it (per-turn deal), or are eliminated. It was currently displaying a “because of war” notification which is incorrect.Corrected an issue that could cause unhappiness from city count and number of specialists to become incorrect over the course of a long game.Changed Frigate obsolete tech to Combustion.Fixed Korean science building exploit.Fixed a problem with City Strike that gave the user the impression that they could not end their turn, when in reality, city strike was still active.Crash: Fixed a crash that could occur in hot-seat when exiting to the main menu.Crash: Fixed a crash that could occur when a unit was eliminated by standing too close to a Citadel.

[MULTIPLAYER]- Significant improvements to general multiplayer stability.- Significant improvements to Hot-Join stability.- Multiplayer now using the same AI move caching as single player, improving turn-times significantly.- Lobby improvements: We now display game details in the lobby list (players in each game, map size, map type, DLC required, etc.).- Host can now kick players from the staging room when loading a save (if a player cannot return to a game, the game can now be continued by the rest of the players).- Found and corrected additional causes of Out-of-Sync.- Exploit: Corrected an exploit that allowed players on the same team to trade cities back and forth to auto-heal it.- Exploit: Corrected an exploit that allowed players on the same team to trade cities back and forth to generate endless City Strikes.- Exploit: Corrected an exploit that allowed a player to lag the UI to gain multiple free techs.

[BUGS]- When scrapping a unit, make sure any cargo units are scrapped as well.- When a unit is destroyed that is carrying another unit, make sure to kill both (missiles sometimes lingered).- Corrected a bug that was causing eliminated Civs to not generate notifications correctly.- Changed notification language for when a Research or Trade deal is cancelled due to the AI running out of funds to pay for it (per-turn deal), or are eliminated. It was currently displaying a because of war notification which is incorrect.- Corrected an issue that could cause unhappiness from city count and number of specialists to become incorrect over the course of a long game.- Changed Frigate obsolete tech to Combustion.- Fixed Korean science building exploit.- Fixed a problem with City Strike that gave the user the impression that they could not end their turn, when in reality, city strike was still active.- Crash: Fixed a crash that could occur in hot-seat when exiting to the main menu.- Crash: Fixed a crash that could occur when a unit was eliminated by standing too close to a Citadel.

Ever since Epic's Gears of War plucked heartstrings with a cover of Tears for Fears' "Mad World" game creators have been attempting to recreate that magic, forging an emotional bond between gamers and game through evocative music. Let's see how good a job Transformers: Fall of Cybertron and BioShock Infinite did of it with their respective Spike VGA Awards debut trailers.

First we'll look at Transformers: Fall of Cybertron, the trailer that takes a much more Gears of War approach to matching song with action.

The music chosen by Activision and developer High Moon Studios to punctuate the clash of giant intelligent robots on a planet far, far away is a decidedly down-to-earth track from Puscifer, a side project of Tool's Maynard James Keenan with backing vocals, interestingly enough, by Mila Jovovich of Resident Evil movie fame.

While quite open to interpretation, to me "The Humbling River" is a song about crossing over to a new level of enlightenment, something that can't be done through guns or money or power.

Pay no mind to the battles you've won
It'll take a lot more than rage and muscle
Open your heart and hands my son
Or you'll never make it over the river

Again, widely open to interpretation. Still I think it's a rather appropriate tune for the setting of the final war for Cybertron, considering the final lines of the song.

It'll take a lot more that words and guns
A whole lot more than riches and muscle
The hands of the many must join as one
And together we'll cross the river

Til all are one, Transformers fans. Til all are one.

The second entry in the touching music trailer competition this year was BioShock Infinite. 2K and Irrational took a slightly more original approach to the music for this trailer, creating their own cover of the religious classic "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" sung by Courtnee Draper, the voice actress for the game's female lead, Elizabeth.

It's actually rather catchy for a religious tune, so much so that it's been covered dozens of times by dozens of bands over the years, though as Ars Technica points out, the song being covered has been slightly altered from the 1907 original. Since BioShock Infinite takes place in an alternate version of 1912, the original lyrics (before the song got all Lord-ified) were the right ones to pick.

As you can see in this video of a couple of folks covering the song in its original form, the chorus remains intact, and that's the bit I'm sure the BioShock Infinite folks chose the song for.

Will the circle be unbroken
By and by, by and by?
In a better home awaiting
In the sky, in the sky?

See? There's a city in the sky! It all makes sense now. Well it made sense this weekend as well; now it's just sensier. Yes, that's a word.

So there we have it, two trailers' worth of touching tunes, one perhaps chosen for its similarity to the message of peace from a 1980s cartoon, the other because of indirect ties to the game's plot. Did either make you want the games more?

The latest "Co-Op Life" video from Machinima focuses on Bioshock, and it's pretty funny stuff. A couple of guys are playing the game on the couch, and the whole experience has… well, it's come out into the real world with them. It's basically a much more high-budget approach to the same kind of satire we've seen of other videos, but in this case, the bigger production values pay off.

Bonus points for a quality Die Hard reference, and special recognition to the funny little girl who plays the Little Sister. If you had someone in the room with you when you made that first save/harvest decision, you may well have had a similar conversation.

Perhaps you are a female. Perhaps you are a female who resembles Lilith from Borderlands. Or perhaps you know someone who does. If so, the game's developer, Gearbox Sofware, has a deal for you.

From the developer's website:

Do you want to be a character in a video game? We're looking for someone to become Lilith from Borderlands. If hired, you will appear in the game, Borderlands 2, as the live action version of the character. Additionally, you may be invited to participate in promotional events and trade shows.

Lilith is a siren—a female character with amazing powers. Borderlands 2, the upcoming sequel to Borderlands 1, features Lilith as a non-playable character.

"In the Borderlands universe, a Siren can project a live-action image of herself into the minds of those she wishes to communicate with," the site continued. "Your look need not be exact, but expressive of Lilith in the mind's eye—similar to how the Guardian Angel was portrayed in the original Borderlands."

There are a couple of stipulations. For one, you must be in the Dallas, Texas area for the first three weeks of December—which I should be! You also must be a female (rats) and between the ages of 18 and 30 (what is this shit?).

While no previous modeling or acting experience is needed, you should be able to follow direction and express character emotion.

Gearbox is careful to note that this isn't a contest. Rather, this is a "job opportunity". The selected individual will be paid US$1,000 per day of shooting, with a minimum one-day guarantee.

There are two ways to apply for the gig: one online, and the other is an open casting call in Dallas. More details in the link below.